


hesperus

by chrkrose



Series: royals [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:07:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26625664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrkrose/pseuds/chrkrose
Summary: 'If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.'G.B.S.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Series: royals [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936966
Comments: 34
Kudos: 149





	hesperus

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot is actually part of a major fic that I’ll probably never write. If you want to know more about it before reading it, go to the end notes where I detail what this fic was supposed to be until the moment this one shot happens in that universe. In case you choose to read the one shot first, what you need to know is:
> 
> Brienne is a princess and she’s promised to the king of the realm. Jaime is the King’s kingsguard, more specifically Lord Commander. They went through some similar stuff they went through on book canon, although here at this point Jaime hasn’t lost his his hand, unlike canon. Jaime and Brienne are in love. 
> 
> Enjoy some smut :D ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

'Signs and Portents', written by Daenys “The Dreamer” Targaryen. 114 Before Conquest.

_  
The third Prophecy_

_'When the King’s Crown is at the zenith, the Hesperus princess will be seen. The Moonmaid, shy as ever, will hide behind a pine tree. Gold will touch her heart, gold will touch her hand. And light will be born when each half find their missing part.'_

* * *

****

* * *

Brienne looks down from the balcony towards the training yard, the white cloak moving in contend with Jaime’s practiced moves. 

She knows those drills well enough. Had trained them so many times. Alone at first, for so long.

Then, with Jaime.

Jaime, who now stood still as the wind blew around him, face turned upwards towards the sun. The white cloak floating around him. _The Warrior made flesh_ Brienne thinks, her gaze taking him in.

She does not know if she’ll ever get another opportunity like this. Of watching him from afar, of being able to do so. If only because she knows herself. She knows his answer to what she’s about to ask of him might make her incapable of ever looking at him for more than a few seconds. 

But she must. For tomorrow she will be Queen, and she might not get another chance. 

She keeps conjuring his words from two nights before, keeps them guarded close to her chest at all times, reliving the way her heart beat so fast, even if his tone was not how she imagined to ever hear such words.

_Your bloody fool wench! You gave me back the best part of me I thought lost forever, by only existing and being the bloody stubborn mule that you are! So ask me to leave at once, ask me to keep this a secret for as long as I live, ask of me anything you want Brienne and I shall do it. For I learned already there’s nothing you ask of me I wouldn’t. But do not think I will stop loving you. It won’t bloody happen!_

_He won’t refuse_ , she tells herself as she descends the stairs that will lead to the training yard, knowing he must have already sensed and heard that someone approaches. _He won’t,_ she repeats in her head and she turns the corner and steps under the sunlight, where Jaime is still standing where he had been. 

But instead of his face upwards facing the sun, he now stares at her. 

_“Lord Commander”_ she says, and he cocks his head to the side, almost amused.

But the coldness and the distance of the past few days remain, and when he speaks, his voice has none of the warmth, none of the teasing she has long learned to associate with Jaime.

_“Princess Brienne.”_

She grits her teeth. _Maybe he will refuse,_ she thinks. She falters.

He must see something in her gaze, in her hesitant steps, for he steps towards her, slowly, his eyes suddenly searching. 

_“Wench”_ he says, low, and something in her chest unlocks at once. In thinking that word once made her blood boil. Now it still does, but for all the wrong reasons. The right reasons.

_“I…”_ she doesn’t know how to start this, all the words she planned so carefully, leaving her at once, her head suddenly empty. 

Good thing she planned what to do in case her words failed her, so she stretches her hand, her fingers curled around the scroll she wants him to take.

When their fingers touch, she almost recoils from the intensity of the feeling of his skin on hers. 

_“What’s this? Is it from the King?”_

Brienne shakes her head, her cheeks burning.

_“N-no. I ask you to read it privately, and once you’re done, burn it. Send podrick to me with your answer...If there’s any.”_

Brienne does not wait to see his reaction, turning around and coming back to the stairs.

She regrets her haste as soon as she reaches one of the hallways, but it’s too late to dwell on that. If he refuses, if he does not say anything, then she’ll have no memory of his words cutting her deep. 

She’ll have only the memory of his words healing her wounds, impossible words he has carved into her soul.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

_Jaime_

_I wish things had been different. I wish this was another life, where I was not a princess, you were not a Kingsguard. Another life where we could have met on the road, hedge knights in search of their next quest. I wish upon many things I cannot have._

_But most of all, I wish for you._

_I want you. As you want me._

_As you said you did._

_You said I could ask anything of you, but I don’t wish to be like her. I don’t wish to ask things of you that will hurt you, leave you broken and bereft._

_But I want to be selfish at least once. I want to know, at least once, how it is to be held by someone who loves me._

_To be held by the one I love. To hold him in return._

_Do you think you could give me that? Is this something I can ask of you?_

_If the answer is yes, tell Podrick the word and he will pass it to me. I’ll be waiting for you in your chambers tonight. I know how to enter without anyone seeing me._

_If the answer is no, know that I understand. And your silence will be enough._

_Princess Brienne._

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

The answer comes not half an hour after their encounter. 

There’s a knock on her door, and when she opens it, Podrick stands on the other side, a note in his hand. He leaves as soon as Brienne takes it from him. 

She closes the door. Breathes deeply. Mayhaps he felt like telling her no even if she asked him not to. 

Brienne brings the note to her chest and counts until ten. Then she reads it.

There’s only one word written down.

_Yes_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

Brienne makes sure the door to her chambers is barred and locked from the inside.

There’s a secret passage connecting her chambers to the White Sword Tower, to the Lord Commander’s bedchambers, and she makes use of it when night comes and The Red Keep is asleep. 

Jaime is not there yet. She sits on his bed, and waits. 

When he finally enters, she stands. 

He’s not wearing his Kingsguard armor or cloak, only a tunic, breeches and his boots. He closes the door behind him, locks it as well.

_“I must confess I wasn’t sure if you would really come”_ he says, and she can’t tell what his mood is. 

_“I told you I would. If you… if you wanted me to”_ Brienne feels her cheeks burning, her whole face must be red at this point. _“If you w-wish me to leave, I-“_

_“I never said that”_ he says, and walks towards her, until they are so close she could touch him if she so reached for him. She doesn’t. _“Why are you wearing a dress? Are you wearing it for me?”_

Brienne feels another flush spread on top of the one that already painted her face. She considered wearing her breeches and tunic, but once Jaime said the blue gown went well with her eyes. And with a dress it would be easy to… easy to…

_“I l-like this dress.”_ She says, stubborn. _“I thought… hmm…”_ she stumbles, not knowing what to tell him.

_“I like it too”_ his eyes trail a path from her flushed face to her broad shoulders, to her neck and cleavage exposed, to the illusion of a waist the gown creates, to the long fabric hiding her legs. Then he returns his gaze to hers. _“A kingsguard swears to never take a wife or children. To a life of celibacy. What you ask of me is to break my vows. Is that what you want?”_

Brienne feels her stomach drop. Was he refusing her? Could he be so hurt by the fate that was imposed to them that it made him this cruel? To tell her yes only to refuse her now when she’s here in front of him?

_Or mayhaps his words were lies,_ another voice whispers in her head.

_“F-forgive me Ser, I shouldn’t...”_ Brienne feels the tears in her eyes and she’s suddenly terrified of crying in front of him, so she turns, ready to go back to where she came from. 

Jaime’s hand on her arm stops her. He turns her around to face him, cups her face with his hands. 

_“Stubborn wench, I just want for you to not regret this on the morrow. I know your sense of honor is much higher than mine could ever be. I would break my vows a thousand times if it means to have you”_

Brienne is about to protest, to tell him it’s not true, that he has honor, that he’s the most honored man she has ever met, but she doesn’t have the chance.

For as soon as he’s done talking, his mouth is upon hers. Kissing her.

His lips are soft, warm, and his touch is feather like. Jaime kisses her as if she’s delicate. For a moment she forgets about her size and height, feels as if she’s a maiden from the songs. When he breaks the kiss, she feels his breath over her lips. 

_“You said you wanted to know how it feels to be with a man who loves you.”_ He whispers, one of his hands trailing down her neck. She shivers. _“Let me show you”_

All Brienne can do is nod. 

When he kisses her again, all the delicacy is gone. Jaime demands. Claim her lips for himself, trails his tongue over them until she parts for him. Slips his tongue inside her mouth, unashamed in his tasting of her. When their tongues touch, Brienne sighs into the kiss, and the hand that rested lazily on the skin between her neck and shoulder lowers to her waist and circles her body, bringing her flush against him. 

That same hand unties the laces on her bodice, while his mouth trails a path from her lips to her ear, then lowers to her neck. Brienne clutches her hands to his shoulder, for fear of her legs giving out as she feels Jaime’s tongue on her skin. 

The upper part of her dress is loose already and when Jaime pulls the last of the strings, it slips from her shoulders. Brienne has half a mind of holding the fabric in place, but Jaime doesn’t let her, his hand pulling it down. And when more of her skin is revealed, the same hand cups her breast.

He squeezes the soft mound, and Brienne gasps.

_“Ever since that bath, I couldn’t stop thinking about them”_ he whispers against her ear. _“I always thought they would fit in my hands perfectly. I was right, as usual”_

She does not even complain about his smugness, not when his other hand mimics the first, both massaging her soft flesh until Brienne sighs in pleasure, hands tangling in his hair. He keeps mouthing the skin of her jaw, trailing kisses up and down her neck, his breathing heavier and heavier. 

Then he suddenly wraps his arms around her and crushes her mouth with his once more, the type of kiss Brienne never heard about in the songs. Jaime walks backwards until he sits on the bed, tugging Brienne with him until she has no option but to sit astride his lap. 

_“Jaime”_ she says in between his kisses, his mouth hot and wet and both of them panting while he takes her bottom lip between his own and sucks, while he tangles his hands in her hair and holds her head so she won’t have another choice but to surrender to his demands, to his claim of her. 

As if she would choose anything else if she could.

  
  
  
  
  


Brienne does not know what she expected when she walked inside Jaime’s bedchambers. She knew he would not be like her Septa said her bedding would most likely happen, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, not the way she feared for so long when she was still too young to know better.

Still, to have Jaime naked above her, trembling as he stares at her eyes, his own with very little green left, it seems almost surreal. Brienne can feel their sweaty skin molding to each other, can feel his hips fitting perfectly in the cradle of her thighs. His weight above her feels so… right. 

Brienne can feel _him,_ all of him, inside of her, and it’s not exactly pleasant, but it’s different, so very different from what she imagined. It’s overwhelming in a way she does not know how to describe.

Jaime leans down to kiss her, his lips pressing firmly against hers, and Brienne still can faintly taste herself on his lips, on his tongue, and she blushes. She doesn’t think the image of Jaime's golden head between her legs, the way it felt to have his lips on her like _that,_ the noises she made, the way he groaned against her skin… she doesn’t think she’ll ever forget that vision or that feeling. How he took her right to the edge of that feeling she got so close to so many times while alone in her chambers, feeling ashamed and afraid of what she was doing, always stopping before she could lose control of her body. 

Jaime took her right to the edge of that feeling, and then beyond, and she lost control, but he was there to catch her, to walk her through the most wonderful sensations she has ever felt coursing through her body.

Jaime smiles even though his eyes are closed.

_“You’re blushing.”_ He says, before he opens his eyes to confirm it. Brienne blushes even more. _“I can feel the warmth of your cheeks.”_ He drops his head to her ears, lowers his voice. _“And I can feel your heat, wrapped all around me.”_

His voice, like that, makes Brienne clench around him without meaning to, and Jaime groans, moving his hips a little. Brienne gasps, the feel of him inside her suddenly changing, a tiny spark of pleasure making her wrap her legs around him instinctively. 

After that they barely speak. Jaime keeps thrusting in a pace that soon becomes frantic, trying to muffle the sounds he makes on her neck, her hair, with her mouth. Brienne feels that same feeling building inside of her the faster he moves, but she knows it will take time until she gets there again. It doesn’t matter. To feel Jaime’s skin gliding against hers, the sweat of their bodies mingling, the way he keeps staring at her eyes and how his own keep fluttering whenever he thrusts a little too hard or whenever her hands caress some part of his skin… it feels like a dream.

Too soon his pace falters and before he can pull out of her, Brienne locks her legs and uses her strength to keep him inside her. Jaime stares at her wide eyed but then it’s too late and he can’t control his body anymore: he thrusts a couple of times before she feels the warmth of his release inside of her.

_“Brienne”_ he whispers against her neck, a reprimand that sounds too weak not only for how cracked his voice sounds, but also because he’s already nuzzling her neck, dropping kisses on her skin.

_“It’s alright. I… I want every part of you I can have”_ she mutters, trying to keep her tears at bay. Trying to forget about what will happen on the morrow.

  
  
  
  
  
  


It’s still night and she wakes up to the feeling of Jaime's beard on her skin, his fingers tracing the smooth skin of her belly and then lower, caressing the hairs between her legs. She does not remember falling asleep in his arms, but she knows he wouldn’t let her spend the whole night here. He would wake her when the time came for her to leave him.

Brienne opens her eyes to stare at Jaime above her, the only source of light the moon outside his window. She remembers watching him the day before, staring at the sun, the warrior made flesh. It’s not only the sunlight that makes him as beautiful as one of the Seven.

He drops his head to catch her lips in a kiss, deepens it while one finger slides inside of her. By the sounds of his finger stroking her flesh, she knows she’s ready to have him again. She tells him as much, failing to keep her voice steady and failing to keep the blush out of her cheeks with this new knowledge. The sound of his voice earlier in the night, telling her how wet she was already, _so wet for me wench, so ready to take my cock inside of you,_ is still loud in her mind.

Jaime smiles, all cat-like, whispering _not yet,_ and trails kisses down her neck and her collarbones until he reaches her breast. That, too, was something she hadn’t known before, despite the months she spent with soldiers on camps. She saw men burying their faces between the camp followers breasts, but she turned her face so fast in shame she never got past those glimpses. 

When Jaime wrapped his lips around the peak of her breasts earlier, sucking on her nipple loudly, unashamed in his enjoyment, looking up at her with dark eyes, Brienne thought she could die just from that feeling alone. Just like right now, his mouth sucking hard on her flesh, making her moan his name over and over again. He takes her whole breast in his mouth - _they were made for me wench. Made for my tongue and my mouth and my hands -_ his finger sliding in and out of her and she quivers in his arms, trembling all over, feeling herself clenching around him as pleasure takes over her body.

This time, unlike their first, he doesn’t give her time to recover like before. Instead, he covers her body with his and slides inside of her, one of his arms wrapping around her thigh to spread her open for him, wrapping her leg around his hips.

_“I … I want to feel you coming around me. You-“_ he says but his words are cut short by his hips driving into her and Brienne’s sharp cries of pleasure. She feels herself cresting that wave again, and Jaime begs her to look at him. Brienne tries, she tries but she can’t stop herself from fluttering her eyes shut and letting the feeling of being claimed so deep by Jaime envelop her, feels herself pulsing around the long hard length of him. 

Jaime crushes his mouth to hers, their tongues sliding against each other as he gasps and spills inside of her again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


When Brienne wakes again, Jaime is no longer beside her on the bed. Instead, he sits on a chair, dressed in the same tunic and breeches from earlier. He stares at her while she seats on the bed, wrapping the sheets around her. The sun is still hidden in the sky, but his approach is made clear by the orange color that replaces the darkness of the night.

_“I…”_ Brienne says, but words escape her. Her shoulders hunch and she drops her eyes to her hands holding the sheets against her body. What more can she say to him? There’s nothing more to say. She can’t ask for more of him than she already has, cannot ask for him to stain his honor even more just so they can live in the shadows for the rest of their days. Jaime deserves more than that. She has been selfish already, she allowed herself that much, but now she needs to be strong. 

_“There’s a secret entrance to the Red Keep, near the beach”_ Jaime says, cutting her thoughts _. “There’s a boat waiting to take me to one of the ships. For days I fancied the idea of slipping away the night before the ceremony, even though I knew that would never happen. That I could never leave your side, even if it meant…and now, even more, I can’t...”_ Jaime doesn’t finish, but the meaning of his words is bright clear. Brienne stares at him wide eyed.

_“Where… where would the ship take you? If you ever…”_ she asks him, not knowing how to finish that sentence.

_“Anywhere I wanted.”_

They stare at each other in silence for a long moment , all the things she wishes to say filling the empty space between them. 

Then Jaime speaks again.

_“I thought I knew what truly love someone meant, once. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I know that now”_ he takes a deep breath before continuing. _“You said you wished this was another life, a life where we could be together. There isn’t another life. This is the only one we have. If you cross through that door, and wish to never speak of this night again, that’s what we’ll do. If you wish to come back to my bed every night, or allow me to come to yours whenever you want, as long as you live, that’s what we’ll do.”_

Brienne feels her eyes filling with tears. Jaime leaves the chair, crosses the distance between them, seats in front of her on the bed. Cups her face with his hands.

_“But there’s a boat. Waiting. Brienne, sweetling…”_ and she can’t help the sob that escapes her. 

He hugs her tightly to him, kissing her hard on the mouth.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On the morrow, Princess Brienne Targaryen of Tarth chambers is found empty, and her bedsheets untouched. The Kingsguard on duty the night before swears he saw her to her bedchambers safely and that the Princess had barred her door from the inside. 

No sign of forced entry is found near the windows. The only possible clue is a secret passage, leading from the Princess’ chambers to The White Sword Tower, more specifically to the Lord Commander’s chambers. 

But any questions that could be asked can no longer receive an answer, for Ser Jaime Lannister, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, can’t be found anywhere in The Red Keep.

It doesn’t take much time to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The King stares impassively through the windows of his chambers, staring at the city beneath him. 

Ser Arthur Dayne waits for his King’s command, and when he turns around, Arthur can barely recognize the man in front of him. Not because of his appearance, for he looks like The King he serves, but his eyes are devoid of any emotion. Not even the melancholy so characteristic of his long time friend is present in his gaze. 

_“Send for the small council. Tell them to postpone any other duty. The court is to be present at The Throne Room two hours from now. I have an announcement to make”._

_“If I’m permitted to ask, what sort of announcement, your grace?”_ Ser Arthur asks, dread filling his chest.

Rhaegar keeps staring at him, his violet eyes no longer holding any of the warmth or compassion Arthur Dayne is so used to seeing in his friend’s face.

_“The crown declares war against Ser Jaime Lannister and anyone who stands with the man who has kidnapped my betrothed.”_

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> ETA: (Pod went with them, is just that nobody paid attention to him disappearing :P)
> 
> So this fic has a LOT of background, and I have very little of it written down but here it’s how it goes:
> 
> Rhaegar won against Robert and became King. He pardoned Jaime and understood why he killed his father, and made him Lord Commander. In this fic, Lyanna dies, baby Jon “dies” as well (actually Ned takes him and never tells Rhaegar about the baby, so he’s alive in the North), Ellia and Rhaegar’s children die, Rhaegar’s mother dies as well giving birth to Viserys, and both Dany and Viserys are lost in the sea, unknown if they survived or not (they have, but Rhaegar doesn’t know). So rhaegar is the only Targaryen alive, or so it seems.
> 
> Rhaegar marries Cersei, and since this has always been her dream, she doesn’t put so much effort in her affair with Jaime, and ends up revealing herself way too soon in Jaime’s eyes. So their relationship crumbled way faster, and sooner, than canon. Jaime also feels conflicted because he has a lot of respect for Rhaegar, and they are close. So another layer on why his relationship with Cersei doesn’t work.
> 
> Cersei keeps trying to get pregnant with Rhaegar’s children, but every time a pregnancy comes to term, the baby is born dead. The story was supposed to start with Cersei pregnant for the third time.
> 
> A rebellion starts in the Stormlands by the remaining Baratheons left, and Jaime is sent there to squash it with other Kingsguards and the army. That’s when he and Brienne meet, since she was at the time serving Renly when the rebellion starts. She ends up saving Jaime (as well as Jaime saves her) multiple times, and they grow from enemies to friends until the rebellion is dealt with. 
> 
> Brienne returns to court with Jaime and he presents her to Rhaegar and tells him about her deeds, how she has actually helped the crown win in the end after Renly was killed. He insists she remains at court for a time until the tourney celebrating his child being born happens. Brienne’s father is invited as well, as a sign of peace between the crown and the Stormlands.
> 
> j/b slowly falls in love and by the time the tourney happens they are already deeply in love with each other. Jaime plans to talk to Rhaegar and ask to be dismissed from the KG, as public opinion about his pardon is divided and that option was once considered (Jaime refused at the time to stay near Cersei).
> 
> In the meantime, another plot happens, where we see glimpses of Rhaegar state of mind and how he’s obsessed with prophecies. We get into why he made the choices he made regarding Lyanna and Ellia and we learn it was never for love, but because Rhaegar had his own kind of madness. The more he ages, the more obsessed he becomes. At the beginning of the fic, one of his masters finds a book long lost, from a Targaryen who used to dream of prophecies. The prophecy he finds is the one you read at the beginning of this one shot (Hesperus means “The Evening Star” in Greek). So Rhaegar works hard to make the kingdom the most peaceful he can, because he believes when his Kingdom is at “its zenith”, the chosen one who will be able to give him the “light”, aka the prince that was promised, will show up. 
> 
> The other plot is Cersei once more losing her baby, with the child being born dead once more, fulfilling Maggie’s prophecy that she would have three kids, and all would die. 
> 
> The tourney happens despite the loss of the baby, to celebrate the end of the rebellion and the peace in the realm, and Brienne participates as a mystery knight, using a shield with a pine tree drawn on it. Rhaegar, when he sees the shield, associates the prophecy with Brienne + she’s Selwyn’s heir, the “princess” of Tarth, and by talking to her father + researching Tarth’s family line, he finds out Brienne’s mother was the daughter of Prince Duncan Targaryen and Lady Jenny of Oldstones, and that Duncan The Tall married a Targaryen Princess before he became kingsguard, and their daughter married into the Tarth line. So Brienne is a Targaryen from both her father, and her mother’s side. 
> 
> Rhaegar then convinces himself Brienne is the one who will give him the child he needs to fulfill the prophecy + she’s the only other Targaryen left. He convinces The Faith that his marriage with Cersei needs to be annulled, because she can’t have children, and a crisis of succession will happen if he died without naming an heir. So then we have the other part of Maggy’s prophecy being fulfilled, a younger and more beautiful one will cast Cersei down.
> 
> Rhaegar names Brienne a princess, as she should have been, and with his marriage to Cersei annulled, he then makes her his betrothed, so she’s set to become his Queen.
> 
> That’s where the fic is at when this one shot starts. I won’t give you the ending for now, because I might write a few more one shots set in this universe :)


End file.
